Home › Research › Biomarkers
Profiling Plasma Biomarkers, Particularly pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42, and Their Relation to Cognition in Memory Clinic Patients
Bucci M, Almkvist O, Bluma M, Ashton NJ, Savitcheva I, Chiotis K, Di Molfetta G, Blennow K et al.. Journal of neurochemistry, 2025-08-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by brain protein depositions, impaired synaptic transmission, and progressive cognitive decline. This clinical study, conducted at the tertiary memory clinic of Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, evaluates plasma pTau217 (in comparison to other plasma biomarkers) as a non-invasive marker for predicting brain amyloid load and cognitive impairment. Uniquely, it integrates plasma biomarkers with cognitive profiling and amyloid PET to assess diagnostic utility across disease stages in a real-world memory clinic setting. A total of 122 patients underwent extensive clinical examinations, including CSF analysis (used here for clinical diagnosis only), CT/MRI, neuropsychological (NP) testing (n = 80) and blood biomarker measurements. Prior to PET imaging, 74 patients were diagnosed with MCI among other diagnoses (AD, other dementia, no dementia). Following PET, patients were reclassified into diagnostic groups: MCI Aβ- (n = 29), MCI Aβ+ (n = 19), AD (n = 51), other dementias (n = 11). ROC analysis evaluated the ability of plasma biomarkers to predict Aβ-PET positivity. NP test z-scores were reduced into principal components (PCs) using PCA. Plasma pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42 ratio were elevated in Aβ+ patients compared to MCI Aβ-patients. The ratio distinguished MCI Aβ+ from AD and, together with pTau217, showed the highest predictive value for Aβ positivity in the MCI group among the biomarkers analyzed (AUC 92.8% and 91.4%). Plasma pTau217/Aβ42 ratio was associated with principal component PC2 ("memory encoding and recall") in MCI Aβ+ (ρ =0.64, p=0.01) and negatively correlated with RAVL retrieval (PC2) in the same group (ρ =-0.57 and -0.6, p=0.028 and 0.017, respectively). Additionally, pTau217 correlated with the "Information" z-score (PC4) in both AD (ρ = -0.50, p = 0.005) and MCI Aβ+ (ρ = 0.53, p = 0.042). Plasma pTau217/Aβ42 might be a valuable predictor of brain amyloid pathology and a potential marker of domain-specific cognitive impairment in AD.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Bucci, M., Almkvist, O., Bluma, M., Ashton, N. J., Savitcheva, I., Chiotis, K., et al. (2025). Profiling Plasma Biomarkers, Particularly pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42, and Their Relation to Cognition in Memory Clinic Patients. Journal of neurochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.70182
Vancouver
Bucci M, Almkvist O, Bluma M, Ashton NJ, Savitcheva I, Chiotis K, et al. Profiling Plasma Biomarkers, Particularly pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42, and Their Relation to Cognition in Memory Clinic Patients. Journal of neurochemistry. 2025. doi:10.1111/jnc.70182. PMID: 40785395.
BibTeX
@article{bucci2025-40785395,
author = {Bucci, M. and Almkvist, O. and Bluma, M. and Ashton, N. J. and Savitcheva, I. and Chiotis, K. and Di Molfetta, G. and Blennow, K. and others},
title = {{Profiling Plasma Biomarkers, Particularly pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42, and Their Relation to Cognition in Memory Clinic Patients}},
journal = {Journal of neurochemistry},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1111/jnc.70182},
pmid = {40785395},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.70182}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Plasma pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42 ratio were elevated in Aβ+ patients compared to MCI Aβ-patients.
- Plasma pTau217/Aβ42 ratio was associated with principal component PC2 ("memory encoding and recall") in MCI Aβ+ (ρ =0.64, p=0.01) and negatively correlated with RAVL retrieval (PC2) in the same group (ρ =-0.57 and -0.6, p=0.028 and 0.017, respectively).
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →
Study details
- Participants80
- Effect sizeAUC 92.8; 91.4%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 57/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 33 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 57 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of neurochemistry) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 80 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40785395) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 33 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 33 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 57 out of 100. |
| Total | 57 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Related studies in Biomarkers
Also tagged “ptau217”
3 studies in the library carry the topic tag “ptau217”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 3 tagged studies.